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No More Smiling II: Redemption
''No More Smiling II: Redemption ''is a short film written, directed, filmed, scored and edited by Scott Pincus. It serves as the sequel to No More Smiling, the final project for Scott's Media Arts II film class, and the fourth film he made for college. The film stars returning cast members Gabe Sagherian, Austin Brinser and Michael Behrenshauser, while Ryan Grier joins in a major role. Numerous actors, both old and new, cameo in the film - including Luke Johnson, Jess Antonacci and Matt Gale. Scott started working on the project in March 2017, shortly after completing the first film; feeling confident about continuing the story, Scott began writing the script that month. Filming began on April 7 and wrapped on May 2; production was set back after Austin Brinser became sick. The film was released on May 5, 2018. Plot Two months after Romeli's interrogation, Adrian Romeli and his partner Walter Hoskins meet with their superior, Andrew Butler, who is displeased with their mission results. Romeli tells Butler he hopes to resign from the Anti-Happiness Commission, and Butler says he'll consider his resignation. After a day of training Walter with his shockgun, Romeli deserts the commission and reunites with Damien in the woods. With the help of other outcasts, Damien plans to hiijack a national broadcast and send a message that will convince people why happiness is good. A month later, Adrian Romeli remains missing. Molly, an outcast captured by the commission, is interrogated by Officer Carlton over Romeli's whereabouts, but she reveals nothing. Butler and Walter debate where Romeli could be, until Butler receives a call from a civilian who claims to have seen Romeli trespassing. Damien and Romeli hike up a utility pole clearing, en-route for a facility to deliver the message. As they walk, Romeli feels distraught. He recounts that Butler manipulated him to turn against his family, after which an assassin killed them and Romeli was drafted into the commission. As Damien comforts Romeli, Butler arrives and confronts them. Damien fights Butler while Romeli finds and fights Walter. Romeli fights Butler after Damien is beaten, but is incapacitated with his shockgun. Damien stops Butler from stabbing Romeli, to which Butler stabs him in the chest. As Butler speaks to Walter, Romeli recovers from the shockgun blast; he grabs a pistol from his backpack and kills Butler. Romeli runs over to Damien, who gives him the message before succumbing to his wound. Walter promises to bury Damien and keep Romeli's actions a secret; Romeli departs for the facility, where he gives the message to Damien's ally Lloyd. Romeli mourns Damien's death as the message plays via the station of a radio host. Damien urges everyone to embrace happiness and turn against the Anti-Happiness Commission. As the message ends, Romeli sits in the facility and smiles. Cast *Gabe Sagherian as Adrian Romeli, the film's main character, who is an officer in the Anti-Happiness Commission. Romeli decides to abandon the commission and pursue a new purpose in the film. *Austin Brinser as Damien, an old friend of Romeli, who believes in happiness and has been cast out to live in the woods. Damien seeks to send out a message that will convince people to embrace happiness. *Michael Behrenshauser as Andrew Butler, the film's main antagonist. Butler is Romeli's superior and a commander in the Anti-Happiness Commission, and engages in a more personal conflict with him in this film. *Ryan Grier as Walter Hoskins, a new major character who is Romeli's partner in the Anti-Happiness Commission. Walter is trained by Romeli, and becomes uncertain over what role he should play in the commission. *Luke Johnson as Officer Carlton, an Anti-Happiness Commission officer who cameoed in the first film; he was credited as "commission officer" in the first film. *Jess Antonacci as Molly, a "smiling outcast" who is friends with Damien. The film serves as Jess's acting debut. *Matt Gale as Lloyd, a "smiling outcast" who is friends with Damien. The film serves as Matt's acting debut. Jack Morris returns as the voice of the radio host from the first film. Michael Robinson also returns as the smiling pedestrian, while Kyle Carozzi and Jacob Huber briefly return as the "TV Watchers"; they're credited as Mark and Johnny, respectively. Pat Bischke cameos as Schmidt, a civilian who calls Butler, while Jordan Winfield cameos as a bamboozled pedestrian. The film serves as Pat and Jordan's acting debuts. Alex Fanelli cameos as the masked assassin who is seen in Romeli's flashback. Chris Lombardo and Jacob Huber briefly serve as stand-ins for Lloyd and Romeli, respectively, during the facility scene. This was done because Gabe and Matt Gale, who play Romeli and Lloyd, don't physically appear together. Production While making the first film, Scott had no plans to make a sequel, but wrote the story with the possibility of it continuing in the future. Shortly after No More Smiling was completed, Scott had to start working on his final project. Due the positive reception of the first film, Scott ultimately decided to make a sequel. A week after No More Smiling was released, Scott began developing concepts for it, and had an idea of the film's premise by the month's end. On March 28, Scott's TA (teaching assistant) confirmed that the project is due on May 9. Scott told her they don't have class that day, as it's the last day of finals, though she didn't take note of this. Scott tried reiterating this notion to her on April 4, but once more she overlooked it. Scriptwriting for the film began on March 30. The film was officially announced on April 2, with the title No More Smiling: Chapter II. On April 5, Gabe Sagherian, Austin Brinser and Michael Behrenshauser were confirmed to reprise their roles as Adrian Romeli, Damien and Andrew Butler, respectively. On April 7, the first day of filming, Alex Fanelli joined the film's cast in a minor role. On April 11, Jacob Huber told Scott's TA they wouldn't have class on May 9, and as such they couldn't view them in class. She suddenly realized the truth behind this. On April 14, she changed the due date of the project to May 2 for unknown reasons (as class still wasn't held that day). Due to the unexpected change, Scott expected to lose a week that could be spent on editing, scoring, and filming minor yet crucial scenes. On April 20, Ryan Grier was cast in a new major role. On April 24, Jess Antonacci joined the cast, and Luke Johnson was confirmed to reprise Carlton. A trailer was released on April 25, with the film's titled being changed from No More Smiling: Chapter II ''to ''No More Smiling II: Redemption. As confirmed by the trailer, Matt Gale also joined the film's cast. On April 26, Jack Morris was confirmed to cameo as the voice of the radio host from the first film. He finished recording his dialogue on May 1. On April 28, the film's release date was changed to May 4, due to the hindered production schedule after Austin Brinser's absence from filming. On April 29, Kyle Carozzi, Jacob Huber and Michael Robinson were confirmed to reprise their cameos from the first film, while Pat Bischke and Jordan Winfield were confirmed to cameo as new characters. Scott completed a rough cut of the film on May 2, in time for the project's due date - though he took the option of resubmitting it with several changes on May 4. This included writing more of the film's score, which he completed on May 3. Scott ultimately bumped the film's release date back to May 5, as he decided to put more finishing touches on the film. The film was released that morning. Filming Filming began on April 7, with a flashback scene involving Gabe Sagherian, Michael Behrenshauser and Alex Fanelli being shot. A location scout for places to film was held later that night, as Scott sought out a utility pole clearing in the woods. Major filming began on April 21, with Gabe, Michael, Austin Brinser and Ryan Grier participating in filming; Gabe refilmed a brief scene the morning of April 22. Filming continued on April 28, although the production was hindered by the absence of Austin Brinser, who became very sick that morning. Ryan Grier completed his scenes that day as well. Due to Austin's absence, production was set back and the release date was postponed. Major filming continued on April 30, with Gabe, Michael and Austin present for filming. Filming continued on May 1, with Pat Bischke filming his cameo for the project. Filming wrapped on May 2, with Luke Johnson, Jess Antonacci, Matt Gale, Michael Robinson, Jordan Winfield, Kyle Carozzi and Jacob Huber all shooting their cameos for the film. Music : See Media Arts II Soundtracks As he did with his previous college film projects, Thrill of the Hunt, The Downingtown Gates of Hell ''and ''No More Smiling, Scott composed an original score for the film. He reprised the themes for Adrian Romeli and Damien, while also introducing a sinister motif for Andrew Butler and a fast-paced theme for the facility. Butler's theme plays throughout the film, while segments of the facility theme are played when the message or facility are mentioned. The theme is played in its entirety when Romeli arrives at the facility. As was the case with No More Smiling, Scott had the option of using third party/copyrighted music. He opted not to in favor of making his project as original as possible. Scoring for the film began on April 25, but paused due to production delays. Scoring resumed on May 1 and wrapped on May 4. Reception The film has garnered a positive reception. On YouTube, the film has a 100% reception, with ten likes. Due to the changed due date of the project, Scott was unable to show the film to his class, unlike his previous three college projects. He instead previewed a trailer, which was well-received. Scott received his grade for the project on May 12, and was given a 24/25, or a 96%. This was the highest score he received for any of his college films. In comparison, it exceeded the score for The Downingtown Gates of Hell, his final project from last semester that received a 20.5/25. Scott's teaching assistant praised the film's special effects. She recommended using less music until the climax of the film, and using different angles to create tension in scenes. She also recommended using more close-ups during fight scenes and to pace them faster. Trivia *This was Scott's last project with Luke Johnson, who was officially dropped from his films in March 2019 due to a hostile attitude towards his fellow cast members. *In the first film, the title only appears at the start of the credits. In this film, the title is seen at the very beginning. *For the film's flashback scene, Gabe shaved his facial hair to give himself a younger look. He then grew it out for several weeks before shooting the film's major scenes. *Austin Brinser, who plays Damien, was sick with a stomach virus towards the end of filming - which nearly threw the production into jeopardy, as half the film had been shot and Scott had little time to finish shooting. **Jack Morris, who voices the radio host, was also recovering from a sickness as well. Like Austin, he was ultimately able to participate in the project. *Jess Antonacci, Matt Gale, Pat Bischke and Jordan Winfield make their acting debuts through cameos in the film. *Sean Larkin was present on the set of the film during several later scenes, but does not have a role. He briefly appeared in the first film during a propaganda advertisement. *Unlike his previous three college film projects, the film was not shown in Scott's film class, due to his teaching assistant rescheduling the due date of the project. They screened rough cuts of everyone's work on April 25, with Scott showing the trailer instead due to the project being halfway done. *The film was originally titled No More Smiling: Chapter II. However, cast member Austin Brinser recommended changing it, stating that "Chapter II" would lead people to believe a third film is coming when Scott had no plans for it. *Alex Fanelli, Chris Lombardo, Ryan Grier and Josh Nedved were all considered for the role of Walter Hoskins. Alex and Chris were unable to take on the role, with Ryan ultimately being cast. Alex appear in a minor role as an assassin. Spoiler Trivia *Scott hoped to incorporate more new actors into the film, leading him to cast Matt Gale as Lloyd, the smiling outcast at the facility. To achieve Lloyd and Romeli meeting each other, Chris served as the stand-in for Lloyd during filming, while Matt's scenes were filmed several days later. **In reality, Matt and Gabe (Adrian Romeli) didn't appear on-screen together and haven't met before. *Currently, Scott has no plans to make a third installment. He chose to bring the series to a point where there's an "opportunity for change" in the world, so happiness can make a comeback - but whether this change comes to be is not confirmed. *The knife that Butler uses to kill Damien is visible on his desk while he's listening to Carlton's interrogation of Molly. *A deleted scene, which was featured in the film's trailer, had Butler give a younger Romeli his shockgun. The scene was cut to improve pacing. *Several of the film's cameos mirror the cameos from the first installment. Two civilians watch propaganda on TV in both films, while the smiling pedestrian is approached by Officer Carlton in both films. *Several props were provided by the film's cast members. **Butler's knife was provided by Matt Gale, who portrays Lloyd in the film. **The gun Romeli uses to kill Butler was provided by Michael Behrenshauser, who plays Butler in the film. **The goggles worn by Damien were provided by Ryan Grier, who portrays Walter in the film. *The playground from the first film is briefly revisited when Romeli runs through it to find Damien. It is also visible in the distance during Damien's message. Category:Short Films Category:2018 Storyline Category:School Projects Category:College Projects Category:No More Smiling II: Redemption